The reports on statements attributed to the Minister of Sport and Recreation, Reverend Makhenkesi Stofile, on Springbok coach, Mr Peter de Villiers recently, have portrayed the Minister as having powers to hire and fire national coaches, something that is not true.
The Minister neither has powers nor ambition to hire and fire national coaches. What he will always do however, is to ensure that in employing foreign national coaches, our national sport federations adhere to the relevant laws of the country.
What the Minister did with Mr de Villiers's matter, was to caution him against speaking on matters that could best be handled by somebody employed to speak on behalf of South African Rugby Union (SARU). His (de Villiers) statements, the Minister said, could come back to haunt him as they may later be "used to cloud the assessment of his work as coach." The Minister does not doubt the coaching skills or the achievements already made by Mr de Villiers; in fact, he finds him to be a good coach whose record speaks for itself.
Also of concern to the Minister, was the way the misinterpretation of Mr de Villiers's statements by the overseas media, was being used to tarnish South Africa's image ahead of the announcement of winning bids for the 2015/2019 International Rugby Board (IRB) World Cup.
The caution from the Minister is not intended to stop Mr de Villiers from talking to the media. It is the issues he tackles, that he needs to re-look. That said, how Mr de Villiers interacts with the media going forward, is between him and his employers.
It is unfortunate that the statements attributed to the Minister, were mainly based on interpretation of other media reports. The fact is:
To a question by a journalist from Die Burger on 8/7/09, the Minister replied:
"Mr Peter De Villiers is a good coach and his record speaks for itself. His big mistake is behaving like the spokesperson on rugby issues. His utterances before the third test about the alleged gouging of eyes were portrayed overseas as equating the United Kingdom players to Lions at the Kruger National Park. This has injured the image of SA at a critical time when we are lobbying the rugby world to support the SARU bid for the 2015/2019 IRB World Cup. The words attributed to Mr de Villiers may have been distorted, but a particular impression was created about SA."
On the white arm-bands worn by players during the third test, this is what the Minister said: "In my view the players acted on issues that belong to the captain on the field, the referees and rules committees of the teams involved and the IRB. The players acted in a way that may be construed to be taking the law in their hands. It may also project our players as cry–babies. I do not agree with them side-tracking their focus with such issues. The acrimony on the field may have been fuelled by attitudes and utterances before the game."
The Minister concluded as follows: "The SARU must appoint a good spokesperson and allow the coach to focus on what he knows, coaching. When results become negative after matches, the coach’s statements will come back to haunt him. They will be used to cloud the assessment of his work as a coach."
For enquiries:
Manase Makwela
Spokesperson: Sport and Recreation South Africa
Tel: 012 304 5017
Cell: 082 782 1759
Issued by: Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA)
16 July 2009
